At 48% South Africa has one of the highest debt as a percentage of GDP among emerging market economies, according to an Allianz Global Wealth report.

South Africa's debt per capita stands at R31 856 (€2 070) – which is significantly higher than the average of other emerging markets at R24 777 (€1 610).

"In Latin America or Eastern Europe, for example, no country can match South Africa in this regard.

The Allianz Global Wealth report – the seventh of its kind – puts the asset and debt situation of households in more than 50 countries under the microscope. Based on the findings of the report, it seems that the good years are a thing of the past.

Global financial assets increased by only 4.9% in 2015, slightly above the growth rate of economic activity. In the three previous years, financial assets grew at twice that pace, with an average rate of 9%.

In South Africa, asset growth however slowed down – from 9.3% in 2014 to 3.7% in 2015. "After years of bumper growth, 2015 oversaw the smallest increase in wealth since 2008," the report said.

South Africa's liabilities, however, increased by 5.7% – slightly faster than the previous year. "Although debt growth has dropped a notch or two after the financial crisis, in the last years it continued to grow steadily and as a consequence the debt pile has doubled since 2007."

With regard to net financial assets per capita, South Africa ranked 39th globally with financial assets per capita valued at R90 647 (€5 890) – behind Mexico, but ahead of Russia or Turkey. It has slipped by three places compared to 2000.

According to Allianz, Scandinavian and Asian countries currently dominate the net financial assets per capita list.

Globally, the wealth report shows a mixed picture. The strong growth in emerging markets in recent years boosted economic participation among people and created a new middle class and in tandem with this, poverty levels have dropped significantly.

The growth in financial assets in industrial countries, such as in Western Europe (3.2%) and the United States (2.4%) has slowed down and has more than halved in 2015.

At the other end of the spectrum is Asia (excluding Japan, however) where financial assets expanded by 14.8%. The region's lead over the rest of the world is only getting bigger. This also applies to the world's other two up-and-coming regions Latin America and Eastern Europe where the average growth was only half of that in Asia.

"The days in which regions were able to keep up with their counterparts in Asia are long gone," the report said.

Michael Heise, chief economist at Allianz, said the growth of financial assets have reached a critical juncture. "Extreme monetary policy is losing its impact even on asset prices. At the same time, interest rates continue their remorseless slide, deep into negative territory. For savers, the outlook is not rosy," Heise said.

Source: Fin24

South Africa

 

By Amos Ngwomoya

Kampala — Court has ordered for the attachment and sale of property of Owino Market vendors for recovery of more than Shs4 billion in a bank loan.

"These are to command you to attach and sell by public auction at the time or date and subject to the conditions set out in the notification of sale to realize the sum of Shs4,468,934,349, the immovable property of the said judgment debtor, St. Balikuddembe Market Stall," the order reads in part.

The order was issued by the Registrar of the High Court's Execution Division Mr Muse Musimbi to Baingana Bailiffs and Auctioneers on August 23 this year.

The debt arose from a loan, which Owino Market vendors acquired from Dfcu bank in 2011 for the lease of land, on which the market sits, from Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).

Management of the market staked their 4.5 acres of land in Kisenyi suburb as the security for the loan. They were required to pay back the loan in five years.

However, the vendors have failed to repay the loan and the bank has moved to attach their property to recover the money.

On May 21, 2015, the market administration through St. Balikuddembe Market Stalls, Space and Lock-Up shops Owners Association (SSLOA), signed an agreement with DFCU bank. The two parties agreed that the market administrators would pay Shs 3billion within 90 days from the date of signing the agreement.

"… that in full and final settlement of this suit and all loan obligations of the plaintiff to the defendant, the plaintiff shall pay to the defendant a sum Shs 3b within the 90 days from the date of execution of this consent," the agreement reads in part.

Since the issuance of the court order for attachment of the property, the vendors have been appealing to government to urgently intervene before the bank sells off their land.

In an interview with Daily Monitor yesterday, the Owino Market spokesperson, Mr Wilberforce Mubiru, admitted he had received the court order but said they owe the bank only Shs2b.

"We received the court order and when we read it to the vendors, they went out of control. However, we have asked Dfcu to give us one and a half years as we collect the money because out of the 10000 vendors, only 3200 have paid Shs1m each, which we asked every vendor to pay. 6000 vendors have paid half while 800 vendors haven't paid any penny. If they give us more time, we shall be able to raise their money," Mubiru said.

He added that they were still engaging the vendors to pay in order to save their land from auction. He said they had even met different government officials for intervention.

"We call upon well-wishers to come to our rescue because it hurts to lose such land, which was bought from the sweat of the vendors. We beg the President to talk to this bank to give us more time so that we could remit their money," Mubiru said.

Asked about the Shs4b outstanding balance cited in the court order, yet he claims the vendors owe the bank only Shs2b, Mr Mubiru maintained his stand. He dismissed the Shs4b sum as a false claim.

This newspaper could not establish how much of the loan the vendors had deposited in the bank towards serving the debt. An official at the Dfcu bank head office at Kyadondo in Kampala, who declined to be named, said the bank cannot disclose details of their client's transactions as it would contravene the banking laws.

By Terhemba Daka

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will support Nigeria with a sum of $1 billion to address the country's N2.2 trillion deficit in the 2016 budget.The gesture comes amid re-assurance by President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigeria has the wherewithal to surmount its current economic setback.

AfDB President, Akinwunmi Adesina, who was at the State House in Abuja, yesterday, also unfolded other packages the financial institution has for the country.

They include $300 million to create jobs for 185,000 youths; $250 million for North East infrastructure development; $1 million grant, to deal with challenges of Internally Displaced Persons; $300 million for infrastructure development around Abuja; and $200 million for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

Receiving Adesina, Buhari said: "God has given us people and resources. It will take hard work on our part, but we will make it. We will get out of our problems."

We are determined to produce what we eat, and stop importation. We will also chase those who stole, and get them to refund."Adesina appreciated the country's support when he contested the AfDB presidency, making him the first Nigerian to occupy the position since the bank was established in 1964.

The AfDB boss described recent economic policies in the country as "bold, tough, uncomfortable, but right," adding that Nigeria would reap the dividends in due course.

He added that AfDB would give a total of $4.8 million as grant for institutional support, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) getting $2 million, and $1 million to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)."You can always count on my support and that of the AfDB," Adesina said.

AS Tanzania looks forward to receiving the second bombardier Q400 plane of two the government purchased from Canada this week, it has emerged that the aircraft are safer, fuel-efficient and ideal for cheap local flights.

The popular global Forbes Magazine writes in an article titled; "Can Bombardier's Q400 Save Regional Air Service in the US?"that comparing to other aircraft offering regional flights in the US, the Bombardier Q400 proved to have more advantages.

It was reported that the planes have appropriate speed to cater for needs in regional airline transport, including having more commercial benefits as compared to aircraft of its like such as the ATR. "Essentially, on a 350 nautical mile route, our analysis finds that the Q400 has about a 65 to 72 per cent advantage in terms of fuel burn per seat versus the E170/CRJ-700, and a 100 to 110 per cent advantage versus a 50-seat regional jet," the Forbes says.

This, along with rising RJ maintenance costs, translates into roughly a 15 to 17 per cent and 48 to 52 per cent advantage in terms of operating costs per seat on the route.

However, increasing the distance to 450 nautical miles causes that cost advantage to evaporate, as the slower speeds (RJs are about 80 knots faster than the Q400) lead to longer flight times, which in turn lead to higher capital and labour costs.

But until that threshold, the Q400 presents a unique opportunity to replace RJ services at a lower cost. The trip costs up to about 350 nautical miles for the Q400s and present day RJs are similar, which means that the same revenue pool (let alone a market stimulated with lower fares) would allow 50-seat RJ routes to be replaced.

Moreover, because the Q400's fuel costs are lower, airlines could afford to pay higher pilot salaries, thereby offsetting some of the severity of the pilot shortage.

"At present, we estimate that the Q400 would be an effective replacement aircraft of between 50 to 60 per cent of the routes in question, and help preserve service at more than 20 airports," it explains.

It further notes that the real opportunity on the Q400 lies in a re-engined, upgraded Q400X turboprop, which has been rumoured for launch since 2011. "If Bombardier opted for a higher speed Q400, the cost equalisation point would bend outwards to around 700 to 750 nautical miles.

"While our sources at Bombardier do caution that a higher speed Q400X would require significant aerodynamic re-design, such a product would allow the Q400 to do 90 per cent of RJ routes worldwide, most of them with superior economics than present and next-generation RJs," it adds.

President of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, Mr Mike Arcamone, said the perception was changing: "I think a lot of operators are starting to realize its quiet…So there are a lot of markets where the Q400 could absolutely replace… at the lower end… . jets."

Experts argue that among other reasons, Tanzania was forced to purchase such planes after realising that high operational costs brought by Boeing as well as few passengers were among major factors behind failure by the Air

Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) to do business. Making price comparison, the Boeing is sold at 296m US dollars while the Bombardier Q400 price stands at 35m dollars. Which is to say the price of one Boeing could buy 9 Bombardier planes.

According to the experts, these nine Bombardiers could help the ATCL to operate profitably. Regarding time used to cover a certain distance, for instance, 1100km from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, the Bombardier can use one hour and 40 minutes whereas Boeing can take 1 hour and 15 minutes, which is a difference of 25 minutes only.

The experts went on explaining that Bombardier uses 1.187 litres of fuel to cover a distance of one mile.

For example, travelling from Songea to Dar, a distance of 537km (335.625 miles), the Bombardier would need 398.386 litres of fuel, costing about 796,773/- at a price of 2,000 per litre.

But, for Boeing, covering the same distance would require spending 28.8m/- on fuel alone.

With Agencies

Lobby group Right2Know has called for advertisers to boycott the public broadcaster until its "crisis" has been dealt with.

The crisis at the SABC was unprecedented, R2K said in a statement on Monday.

"The SABC is expected to post a loss of R500 million this year. Rampant financial mismanagement is to blame and can be seen in, among other things, the massively inflated salary bill for top management and the recent ego-stroking 'Thank You SABC Concert' that turned out to be an enormous and costly flop."

On Wednesday, R2K would march to the offices of several top SABC advertisers and call on them to pull their adverts from the public broadcaster.

"Under these circumstances, to be advertising with the SABC is to encourage gross mismanagement and unlawfulness."

It wanted a well-funded public broadcaster with the resources to fulfil its mandate, based on accountability and transparency.

It could not accept a situation where the broadcaster was subject to the whims of a "petty narcissist", COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng, who continued to rule with "absolute impunity".

"Hlaudi is where he is simply because he is so eager to lick the boots of his political masters and use the SABC to spin their 'good stories'."

Topping the R2K's demands was that Motsoeneng should leave the public broadcaster in line with the Public Protector's findings and court rulings that his appointment was irrational.

Last Monday, the Supreme Court of Appeal rejected Motsoeneng's bid to appeal against the Western Cape High Court's November 2015 ruling declaring his appointment as COO irrational and setting it aside.

On Thursday, News24 reported that the SABC's group secretary had asked the board, in a letter dated September 19, to recommended to Communications Minister Faith Muthambi that Motsoeneng be appointed acting COO until December.

Source: News24

The GE Angola team made sure their boots were made for running this September, when staff members took part in a gruelling 84km marathon along Luanda Bay. They jogged, walked and cycled the equivalent of twice the conventional marathon distance of 42.2km in order to raise funds for local orphanages.

The group ran, walked and cycled along Luanda Bay, completing the marathon in about 11 hours and 30 minutes. In total, more than USD $7,240 for two orphanages, in the capital Luanda and Cabinda province, located in the north of Angola, the El-Betel and Lourenco Amadeu orphanages.

Led by Subsea Services Leader Peter Condon and Senior Sales Manager Michael Baeten, the team was formed when their colleagues decided to join them in their efforts to complete an endurance event for a good cause. Knowing that the marathon would be a tough one, preparation included a weekly endurance programme.

Peter says he was inspired to do  the marathon after reading about GE colleagues in Cabinda who were fund-raising for orphanages in that province.

"It was fun and heart-warming to have colleagues and friends joining us  throughout the day. Even spectators we didn't know walked and cycled a short  distance with us. The motivation and encouragement from our colleagues was  crucial during the last few kilometres because it was tough. We had to dig  deep into our energy reserves to finish," says Peter.

The  total funds collected came in the form of pledges and donations after the pair team had completed the marathons. The charity committee will now compile wish  lists of the orphanages requirements,

Peter  says he would like to encourage more people to give back to communities, but cautioned that it is important to keep costs down when organising a  fundraiser. In this instance they borrowed bicycles, which they used during  the marathon.

Participants  need to be committed to giving up some of their time to prepare and make the fundraiser a success, so he also suggests keeping the team as small as possible to ensure that each team member delivers on the individual roles assigned.

London — Last week saw the #DATAMUSTFALL hashtag go viral in South Africa. This is every African mobile operators' nightmare as data becomes more central to a far greater number of African users. Russell Southwood looks at what data wars across the continent hold for the future.

There was a time not so long ago when Internet users in Africa didn't matter to anyone in power, whether in Government or the private sector. Before the Arab spring, there were a few closures of SMS services but no-one talked about the Internet. Now it seems that not a month passes without an African country closing the Internet: Gabon is simply the latest in a growing list of countries.

Africa's data users are now becoming mainstream consumers and with their access to social media are now able to articulate their views on the pricing of mobile Internet a great deal more effectively.

Popular South African DJ Thabo "Tbo Touch" Molefe started a campaign to get data prices lowered in South Africa and it went viral. He asked listeners on his internet radio show and on Twitter to imagine a South Africa where people could download a book and stream a video, all while listening to online radio. He's also meeting with the Chair of the regulator ICASA.

As the topic trended, the Economic Freedom Fighters political party, which advocated free wifi as part of its election campaign, threw its weight behind the hashtag. Before long, he was also attracting global media coverage from the likes of Fortune magazine.

What irked South Africans in particular was that in the much more competitive data market in Nigeria South Africa's MTN was charging less for data than in South Africa. Nigeria is a country where the cost base and network challenges are significantly greater than in South Africa. And as Fortune observed: "In Nigeria MTN's 1.5GB monthly plan costs 1,000 naira or $3.12, while in South Africa the prepaid 1GB deal costs 79 rand or $5.56, according to the MTN website".

Some pushback came from South telecoms analyst and academic in a Facebook post in response to the campaign:" While the effective prices of data in South Africa may be well below the advertised price of the 1GB measure used internationally, users, especially those in lower income category, are spending significant portions of their income, around 20%, on relatively small amounts of data (1GB). This is because data prices still remain relatively high, but also because people are using a wider range of services more extensively. This now requires operators to build out next generation networks and increase their international and local capacity to meet demand and attempt to retain the quality of their networks".

"As a result they are collectively investing billions of dollars (over ZAR20 million between Vodacom and MTN in the current financial year alone) in network extension and upgrades for which they are required to ensure yield good rates of return for their shareholders. Doing so ensures further investments to compete effectively. Whether they are price gouging is unclear without a comprehensive cost analysis of their business and indeed the long overdue market review, in order determine dominance and abuse of dominance in the market".

Her conclusion? Government needs to keep the incentives in place for the private sector to invest and make effective interventions that help those less well off able to access data:"The role of public wi-fi as per SA Connect, and the successes in the big metro already, enabling dynamic spectrum sharing, and giving rural communities access to under-utilised spectrum are all things that if acted on now could see benefits in the very short term".

There is some sense in what Gillwald says but at the heart of this debate is whether Africa's incumbent mobile operators can find a business model that can deliver to a much wider range of people. Also South Africa is significantly less competitive than the benchmark comparison above with Nigeria. Competition means competitive pressure and "blood on the carpet" not simply preserving the status quo for existing businesses.

And as Nigeria's Technology Times reports:" The race among the Big Four mobile phone companies for more mobile Internet users has already kicked off with shifting marketing away from voice minutes to competitive data package offerings". Regulator NCC has removed the floor price for data and ushered in a period of fierce data price competition.

The issue of whether this competition will produce a new business model will be fought out around what economists call price elasticity. If you lower the price for mobile Internet, you get more users. Nowhere has this been clear than with the rise in mobile Internet users as mobile operators went down the "glide path" on 3G prices to current levels.

The issue with price elasticity is that at some point the increased volume of users at a lower price no longer produces a rise in revenues. What is at issue here is where is that point?

Tomorrow in Africa when voice and turns into WhatsApp, Skype and Viber and the value added services are music, film and TV, the business that is able to deliver mass, low cost data will probably not bear much resemblance to Africa's existing mobile incumbents.

So it's interesting that Vodafone is using its brand to explore how the business might look different if you started with data and worked backwards to voice. It has announced a non-equity Partner Market agreement with Afrimax to launch LTE data services under the Vodafone Cameroon brand in Yaounde and Douala. Effectively Vodafone lends its name and other help whilst getting to look over the owners' shoulders as the business develops.

The rollout for consumers and businesses will include the opening of Vodafone-branded retail stores and kiosks in key locations, supported by a network of distributors and resellers offering LTE handsets and devices. For SMEs, Vodafone Cameroon will also offer a range of connectivity products including LTE and Wi-Fi mobile data services, fixed internet and office solutions. Afrimax is already in Uganda and Zambia under the Vodafone name and in Ghana using the Busy brand.

Thus far its customer base is in the hundreds of thousands rather than millions but it is clearly laying down a new template for Africa's future data operators.

 

Tanzania Breweries Limited said it would enhance public awareness on responsible drinking to rid the nation with effects of harmful drinking.

The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange listed breweries company which leads in the country in terms of market share, said it would increase efforts to promote responsible drinking and discourage the harmful use of alcohol, including binge drinking, underage drinking and drink driving.

The declaration from the beer maker comes at the time Tanzania is marking Road Safety Week which reaches in climax in Geita Region this week. TBL is one of partners who support various activities under the week.

TBL Group Executive Director, Robert Jarrin said education on responsible drinking are one of declarations reached by breweries companies and other companies which produce alcoholic drinks in 76 countries during Global Beer Responsible Day held recently.

He said the brewing companies in partnership with governments and NGOs, workers and customers to support campaign to promote responsible drinking.

"As producers of beers and other alcoholic drinks, it is our responsibility to educate our customers to drink responsibly and for the sake of their health and instead of causing harmful effects including failing to participate in production activities due to drinking.

TBL Training Officer, Gasper Tesha said the company has been conducting training to various groups in the society and continues to reach out to the people through seminars, mass media and leaflets which have been distributed by the company to areas of public gathering.

He said one of the objective for promoting responsible drinking to make sure the society is rid of harmful effects of alcohol drinking.

They have been promoting responsible drinking for entertainment and boosting their health. He said responsible drinking would help to reduce road accidents because statistics show alcohol drinking is one of the causes of accidents in the country.

DOCUMENT

16th September 2016 in

Interviews & Speeches

Delivered By Tony O. Elumelu, CON,

at the Opportunity Africa Conference Wilmington, Delaware, USA

Friday, September 16, 2016

Senator Christopher Coons, Former State Representative Don Blakey; Distinguished speakers and guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am delighted to be with you this morning for the fifth ‘Opportunity Africa Conference.

I want to start by thanking Senator Chris Coons and his wonderful staff for inviting me to his home state to speak with his constituents. I’ve met with Senator Coons in Washington but nothing speaks more warmly of friendship than an invitation to one’s home.

I also want to thank you, Senator for your commitment to the continent and people of Africa.

I will start by saying that on the surface, Senator Coons and I appear very different.

He was born and raised in the United States, and I, in Nigeria. He has spent many years as a public sector leader, while I have focused my career almost exclusively in the private sector. And we have both achieved much success in our chosen endeavours.

However, if you look more closely, we are not so different.

We were both born in 1963.

And we share a deep belief in the inherent value and dignity of the African people and a commitment to DELIBERATELY and UNAPOLOGETICALLY, unlocking the potential of the continent.

The Senator’s interest in Africa, began as a student when he wrote critically about the Apartheid government in South Africa and the unfortunate U.S. foreign policy of “Constructive Engagement” with this racist government and through his experiences, living in Kenya.

Both of these experiences influenced how he approached the concept of governance including in the United States itself, and caused him to change his political affiliation.

So, Africa CHANGED YOU, Senator, in a very fundamental way, and now you are giving back by using your platform in the U.S. Senate to help CHANGE AFRICA and to CHANGE THE NARRATIVE ABOUT AFRICA!

So, in a word, a key theme in the Senator’s life has been “CHANGE.” In my life, the key theme, in a word is “MADE.”

I was born in Africa, educated in Africa and have spent my whole career working in Africa. You might say, I was MADE IN AFRICA and I MADE IT IN AFRICA!

And like the good Senator, I seek to CHANGE THE NARRATIVE ABOUT AFRICA from one of UNDERDEVELOPMENT and OVERWHELMING POVERTY to one of OPPORTUNITY AND PROSPERITY.

For too long and for too many people the continent “Africa,” evokes images of poverty, disease, hunger and backwardness. Even worse these images conjure a sense of hopelessness!

People believed similar things about China, Brazil and India not too long ago, but now that these countries are economic powerhouses, the narrative has changed.

Senator Coons and I, and I believe everyone here, want the same for Africa’s 54 countries.

And yet it is true that, today, Africa is home to:

– Two thirds of the world’s HIV/AIDs infected persons and 90% of its orphans;

– 90 million kids who are out of school;

– Over a dozen undemocratic or insufficiently democratic governments;

– Millions of people who are caught in civil conflicts and vulnerable to starvation.

Wanting change should not blind us to the current realities; indeed these facts should make us all ever more committed to achieving change.

But that is not the whole story about Africa.

– Africa is the cradle of mankind and ancient civilizations;

– it is home to amazing cultures, that have touched the world in music, art and literature;

– it gave us the extraordinary example of Nelson Mandela;

– However, most importantly for me, Africa is a continent of a generation of entrepreneurs. Home probably to the largest group of entrepreneurs on this planet.

Africa is also the home of a young and growing middle-class that has strong purchasing power. A middle-class that likes baseball caps, iPhones, Kias, CNN and Beyonce. In other words, in Africa lies a huge growing market for American products.

Clearly, over the last two decades, something has been happening in Africa!

SUCCESS is happening in Africa!

Opportunity is happening in Africa.

And I am living proof of this!

I’ve enjoyed success in banking, but also in growing agricultural products for our people, providing healthcare, investing in power to drive our economy, resources that can bring value to our continent.

And ALL in Africa!

I have been very successful in these sectors using an economic philosophy I developed called Africapitalism.

Africapitalism advocates long-term investment in strategic sectors that generate both economic dividends for investors and social dividends for society.

So, I am a successful Africapitalist today, but I started out just like one of those young men and women in the clip you just saw of the beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s $100 million Entrepreneurship Program.

The continent of Africa has given me so much!

And I understand and embrace the responsibility to GIVE BACK to the continent by PAYING IT FORWARD and creating more Tony Elumelus to help transform Africa.

Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s $100 million Entrepreneurship Program, we seek to INSTITUTIONALISE LUCK and DEMOCRATISE OPPORTUNITY by giving every budding or aspiring African entrepreneur the chance to benefit from it. It is open to all African citizens, regardless of age, gender, nationality or commercial sector.

We are training, mentoring and seeding 10,000 African business over the 10 years, creating 1 million new jobs and $10 billion in additional revenue across Africa in an effort to ignite the economic transformation of Africa.

These entrepreneurs will achieve financial success while creating home-grown solutions to local problems in core areas such as food, education, health, water and sanitation etc., delivering African solutions to African problems. Or, in other words helping, to implement the Sustainable Development Goals from the private sector.

This is the story I want to tell about Africa. This is the new narrative of Africa.

I travel all over the world, preaching that Africa is “OPPORTUNITY.”

And if I am the opportunity preacher then Senator Coons is the Choir Master because for the last 5 years, he has been organizing this conference that could not be more aptly named and reflective of what is happening on the continent “OPPORTUNITY AFRICA.”

He is not only bringing that message to Delaware, he is taking it to Washington DC. And he is demonstrating it through concrete policy actions.

U.S. policy towards Africa has largely and steadily been improving since the late 1990s. It’s not been perfect but it’s gotten better with each successive President since William Jefferson Clinton.

Looking back, from the 1960’s through most of the 1980s, U.S. Foreign policy towards Africa focused on supporting despots in the Cold War alliances and then, following the collapse of the Soviet empire, wrote Africa off completely in the 1990s.

However, during his second term in the late 90s, President Clinton began to engage with the continent and even came on a state visit to sub-Saharan Africa, something no U.S. President had done in almost two decades.

It was also in the final year of the Clinton presidency that the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act was passed, which helped to lay the foundation for a new US-Africa relationship; one based not on humanitarian assistance, but on partnership for mutual economic benefit – and one that allows entrepreneurship to be the engine of social development.

President George W. Bush built on this with the AGOA renewals and enhancements and the creation of the Millennium Challenge Account which was a multi-billion dollar programme to incentivise African countries to embrace democratic reforms and govern justly, in return for US assistance to develop their infrastructure and commercial sectors.

President Bush must also be credited for the multi-billion global AIDS program that has helped to keep millions of HIV-infected persons healthy and by extension Africa’s workforce and economies healthy.

President Barack Obama upheld the previous initiatives and created the Feed the Future Global Food Security programme to boost agriculture in 20 countries, a sector that delivers 3 times the development gains as any other investment in development and of course, he created the Power Africa initiative, which seeks to expand access to electricity for the 600 million African who lack access to power today, through public and private sector partnerships, an agenda that Senator Coons championed to preserve, through passage of the Electrify Africa Act in the U.S. Senate.

And it had leveraged nearly $150 billion in private capital to address this critical development issues.

That is what I call “Shared Purpose,” a key characteristic of Africapitalism.

And I know that if we get power right in Africa, it will unlock millions of new jobs and economic growth in multiple sectors by reducing the cost of doing business and attracting new investments.

So, U.S. policy towards Africa over the last two decades has been improving, regardless of which party has held the presidency.

As you go into your presidential elections this year, I urge Americans to ensure that the candidates and new Administration seek to build on this progress.

Both candidates are promising change in key policy areas, especially in the foreign policy arena.

But I want to say to you today, that SOME THINGS DON’T NEED TO CHANGE!

What they need, is to be expanded and scaled up.

In other words, we need MORE U.S. engagement in Africa through mutually beneficial trade and investment.

Incidentally, that is exactly what I, and 200 other US and African political and business leaders, will be discussing next week at the US-Africa Business Forum in New York – how to strengthen mutually beneficial economic ties between the African and American peoples.

We also need more security co-operation that protects both Americans and Africans from the undesirable elements of this world – and where the root cause is poverty, that I believe can only be truly fought by giving people the economic tools to better themselves.

And, very importantly, we need to work in “Shared Purpose” on complex solutions to complex challenges in Africa.

So when you meet, write, call and email your political candidates and representatives, of all races, and the elected President in November, tell them that when it comes to Africa, you want “More.”

By “More”, I mean more engagement, more positively impactful policies and more development and commercial investment in Africa.

In closing, I want to thank you all for coming out today to EXPLORE AND FURTHER OPPORTUNITY IN AFRICA.

I am an unashamed optimist and I believe that working together, in “Shared Purpose” we can help usher in economic transformation that will catapult Africa into a strong regional player in the 21st century global economy.

And going back to the defining themes that illustrate the impact that Africa has had on Senator Coons and myself, I believe that we will collectively be able to look back, in 2030, and know that while Africa “MADE US” or “CHANGED US,” we have together “MADE CHANGE” happen in Africa and for Africans, through a virtuous cycle of opportunity and prosperity.

Thank you.

Tony O. Elumelu, CON
Chairman, Heirs Holdings & Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation

Twitter: @TonyOElumelu and Instagram @TonyOElumelu
Twitter: @Heirs_Holdings and Instagram: @HeirsHoldings
Twitter: @TonyElumeluFDN and Instagram: @TonyElumeluFoundation

By Rodrigue Rwirahira

Rwanda's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.4 per cent in the second quarter but saw a decline in some sectors, a report by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) shows.

The 2016 quarterly report, which closed in June, also put the GDP at current market prices at Rwf1,549 billion, up from Rwf1,428 billion in the same quarter in 2015.

The sectors that contributed to the growth, according to the report, includes agriculture, which grew by 3 per cent; services, which registered 9 per cent growth; and tourism (limited to hotels and restaurants), which registered 4 perc ent growth.

However, the industrial sector, according to the report registered a -2 per cent growth against a 10 per cent growth rate registered during the same quarter of last year and the previous quarter of this year.

According to Yusuf Murangwa, NISR director-general, the drop in the industrial growth was occasioned by the struggling mining and construction sectors, which registered negative growth due to external shocks.

"In agriculture, food crop growth was 4 per cent in 2016 season A, whereby export crops experienced a sharp decline of -23 per cent mainly due to a drop in coffee output (-37 per cent), although tea increased by 4.7 per cent," he said.

Murangwa explained that the -2 per cent drop in industry sector resulted from poorly performing mining and construction subsectors, which, he said, saw a slump in mining registering -13 per cent and construction activities hovering around -6 per cent.

"The drop in construction appears to be due to big projects that were finalised following significant construction activity in quarter two of the previous year, normally we expect to see a slowdown after very high activity," Murangwa added.

While completion of major construction projects, like Kigali Convention Centre, Marriott Hotel, roads and other infrastructure are being cited as some of the factors that brought the sector to a standstill in the concluded quarter, officials sounded optimistic on the upcoming quarters.

According to officials from the Ministry of Finance, the current fluctuations, in terms of GDP growth vis-a-vis the previous quarters, might not see the ministry revise the projections.

Should the country decide to revise projections of the entire economic growth, according to Leonard Rugwabiza, the chief economist at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, changes can only be made after results of the third quarter, which closes this month (September).

"We have not revised our projections yet; taking quarter 1 and 2, we have got the first half of the year, which is roughly around 6.5 per cent, but we are yet to revise the one we have, which is 6.0 per cent until maybe the end of the year," Rugwabiza said.

The economy grew by 6.9 per cent in 2015 after a sluggish global economy and lower levels of commodity prices.